Dhaka: As soon as Jhenaidah-4 MP Anwarul Azim Anar entered the Sanjeeva Gardens flat in Kolkata’s New Town on May 13, he realised that the accused had planned to murder him.
As he tried to leave the flat immediately, accused Foysal Ali Sahazi pulled him from behindand covered his mouth with a handkerchief soaked with chloroform.
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The other accused, including Amanullah alias Shimul Bhuiyan, then executed the killing.
This was revealed in the investigation progress report submitted to a Dhaka court yesterday in the abduction case filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station by the daughter of the MP.
Mafuzur Rahman, senior assistant commissioner of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), filed the report to the court and sought 10-day remand for Foysal and another accused Mostafizur Rahman Fakir. However, the court granted six-day remand.
The two were arrested from Sri Sri Ma Patal Kali Temple in Chattogram’s Sitakunda on Wednesday evening.
According to the report, Foysal received Azim after he was lured out of the Kolkata house of his friend Gopal Biswas. The two boarded a car and went to another place. Amanullah joined them there and they got into another car.
The three then went to the New Town flat where another accused Celesty Rahman welcomed Azim by opening the door from inside.
As Celesty went to the top floor of the triplex apartment, Shimul and the other accused took Azim to a room, said investigators.
The lawmaker had a scuffle with the accused before he fell unconscious from the impact of chloroform exposure. The accused then killed the MP, stripped the body, and tied it to a chair. Subsequently, the body was dismembered.
The investigation progress report said Amanullah and Aktaruzzaman, one of the masterminds of the killing, promised to pay Foysal and Mostafizur a handsome amount for the killing.
The two went to Kolkata from Bangladesh on May 2 and checked into a hotel. Mostafizur went to the New Town flat on May 10 and Foysal reached there two days later. They stayed there to execute the killing, reads the report.
Law enforcers in India and Bangladesh have so far arrested nine suspects, including seven who directly took part in the killing. However, the weapons used in the murder are yet to be recovered.
Meanwhile, DB chief Harun Or Rashid, also an additional commissioner of DMP, yesterday said the killers bought a chair for Tk 17,000 from a market in Kolkata and brought chloroform with them.
“Azim’s body was tied to that chair … Siam brought the weapons and gave those to Foysal,” he told reporters at his office in the capital.
Investigators said they were probing to determine who benefited financially and politically from the murder. They also said that a few other suspects were under surveillance.
Harun said, “Azim was a popular MP. Aktaruzzaman took him to Kolkata saying they would discuss financial transactions.”
“We are yet to ascertain a particular motive. We are examining all possible causes, including political and financial factors,” said the DB chief.
He said they will interrogate Foysal and Mostafizur on remand to know about the motive of the murder.
“We are not calling in anyone without any reason. We are not harassing innocent people.”
Azim went to Kolkata on May 12 and stayed at a friend’s house overnight. He left the house the following day saying he would visit a doctor.
On May 22, India and Bangladesh police said the lawmaker was murdered.
